Typewriter copyholder



Dec. 19, 1922.

s'. MAcDOWELL.

A. TYPEWRITER COPYHOLDER FOLED MAR. 27. I920.

4 smears-sneer 1 ATTORNEY Dec. '19, 1922.

, A S MACDOWELL TYPEWRITER COPYHOLDER Fl LED MAR. 27, I920 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 INVENTOR.

I MEZZ 4 v aBATTORA/EY Patented Dec. 19, 1922,

sya g nane "earner series,

- ANDREW s. MAcnownLnor noorrnsrnn, NEW YO K" 'rYrEwnrTnn oorrrronnna.

Application filed March 27,1920, SerialNoi 369,431.

To all "whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREWV DOWELL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have inholder by merely pressing a button or key,

'sufliciontly to open or close a switch, which button or key may form part of the conventional typewriter keyboard, or be located in a juxta-relation to the keyboard, or in any other position of convenient access.

' Another object of the improvement is to provide a copy supporting member which on be moved in either direction through the instrumentallty of an electric motor, and to govern said motor by a circuit arrange ment that permits of operating the motor in either direction by a switch closing operation; also to automatically stop the motor when it has rotate-d a predetermined amount, thereby preventing it from rotating any farther in a given direction after the copy supporting member reaches the limit of its travel.

A further purpose is to afiord means for automatically raisingthe copy supporting member a predetermined distance at each operation of abutton or key, as for in stance, where a motor is employed, by caus-v ing the motor circuit to remain closed a predetermined period of time, and then automatically opening the same, the motor circuit reinaining closed sufficiently long to elevate the copy supporting member through the distance of one line, or any desired number of lines. y

'Other purposes and advantages will apg'iea-r from the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features beingpointedlout the claims at the end of the specification S. I ii IAC- 1 sition;

ot Figure 1-;

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan .view illustrating the application of one embodiment of my invention-to a typewriter of'usual form, and showing in open position the automatic switch which functions as the copy sup- Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a copyholder constructed in accordance with v the invention, and showing-"the copy supporting member in its lowermost position;

Figure ,3 is avview similar to F igure 2, with the copy supporting member in its uppermost position; I v

Figure l is ahorizontal sectional View on the line 4-4 of Figure F igures5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Figure 5;v

Figure 7 is a sectionalyview, similar to Figure 5, with the automatic switch actuator at the opposite limit of its movement;

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view, of the motor circuit and switches;

Figure 9 is a front elevation of the upper portion of the copy, supporting member;

Figure 10 is an end elevation of the} clamping rod and its controlling lever,

Figure 11 is a sectional view on line 111 l of Figure 1;

Figure 12 is a sectional view on line 12 -12 of Figure 2; a a

Figure 13 is a vertical sectional view of my'improved circuit closing mechanism, for automatically opening. the electric circuit after a predeterminedv time, showing the parts in normal position;

, Figure 14 is a similar view with parts broken away, illustrating the position when the circuit is closed;

Figure 15 is a similar ,view illustrating the position of the parts after the electric circuit has been opened, and with the key about to return to itsnormal position, and

F igure: 16 is a horizontal sectional view on line 1616 of Figure 13.

There are various ways in which the purposes ofthe invention can be accomplished in a practical manner, and for purpose of explanation, I will describe one successful porting member reaches its downward po-- in any sense to limit the scope of my improvements to the particular construction disclosed.

In the illustrated embodiment, A designates a conventional form of typewriter, (see Figure 1) having the keyboard a and the frame a surrounding the keyboard,

Located in rear of the typewriter is the limit the invention to the use of a motor,

since other electrical instrumentalities might be employed to control the operation of the copy supporting member, and likewise be readily governed, as for instance from the typewriter keyboard, or a point in juxtarelation thereto.

Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4, C designates the vertically movable copy supporting member, gnided upon the stationary vertically arranged frame D, which is fixedly attached to an upstanding portion (1 of the base plate (1, upon which latter the several parts of the copyholder, now to be described, are mounted or attached.

I preferably employ electrical means for elevating the copy supporting member, and in the present embodiment, there is shown an electrical device in the form of a motor E, which is operatively connected with the copy supporting member C in the following manner. The motor shaft carries a worm e which engages and drives the worm gear 6 mounted on the shaft 6 Also fixed on the shaft 6 is a drum 6 to which is attached one end of a flexible connection 6*. The latter is preferably in the form of a metallic ribbon, and extends upwardly overa guide pulley its opposite end being connected to a lug e which is carried by the copy supporting member C. The guide pulley e is journalled in lugs e which are struck from' the stationary 't'rame hen the motor is rotated in one direction, the flexible con nection ctis wound on the drum 6 and the copy supporting member is elevated, and when the motor is reversechthe flexible connection e unwinds, and the weight of the copy supporting memberC causes it to move downwardly. as the connection unuinds.

The motor E is controlled by the buttons or keys 0, (2, already referred to, through a circuit which will now be described. Referring to Figure 8, f designates one side of the line which supplies current to the motor armature E, the other side of the line being designated by 7". Between one side of the line f and the motor armature E, are two circuits f and f arranged in parallel, and the keys 0 and 0 operate double throw switches in said circuits f and f which switches are normally held in contact on the upper element by means of springs. G

designates the field winding which extends between the two circuits f and 7", and is connected between the middle contacts of said switches a and c, Also-arranged in the circuits f and f are automatic limit switches f and f see Figure 8, the purpose of which will appear presently. One of the advantages of the above described switch control is that there is no possibility of cansing a short circuit through the motor, and it by accident both switches 0 and c are closed at the same time, the circuit remains open, This arrangement of switches and field for reversing a series wound motor, is novel, so far as I am aware.

I In the practical operation of the mechanism, the copy supporting member is elevated, usually, one step or one line at a time, and to accomplish this, it is necessary that the elevating key be depressed momentarily, to close the motor circuit long enough to rotate the motor and elevate the copy supporting member a slight distance. Both of the switches c and c are shown in normal open position in Figure 8, being held by springs on the upper contacts, and if it is desired to elevate the copy supporting member, the switch 0 is depressed,icausing current to flow ironi f through armature to the circuit f through the lower contact of switch 0 to the field Gr, thence through the upper contact of switch 0 to the circuit ,1, and through automatic limit switch f to line 7. When the copy supporting member reachesthe upper limit of its movement, the switch is automatically opened and the motor thereby stopped, preventing further upward movement of the copy supporting member.-

In Figure 8, the switch 7 is shown in open position, which occurs at the downward limit of travel of the copy supporting member, as also illustrated in Figure 1. To cause the copy supporting member to travel. downwardly assume that the switch 7 is in normal closed position; then by depressing the switch 0 the current is caused to travel through the field G in a reverse direction to that already descibed. This reverses the motor and lowers the copy supporting member.

The automatic limit switches designated in Figure 8 at f and f are illustrated more fully in Figure 1, and comprise spring arms 7' and f", f and 7 respectively, see Fig. L The contacts 7 and f are normally in engagement, and the contacts 7 and f are normally in engagement,closing both circuits. The spring contacts f and f are provided with projections which lie in the pathof the travelling switch actuator H. The latter is threaded, as shown in Figure 5, and engages the threaded portion h of the shaft 6 and also has a downwardlyprojectin o part is which is guided on the spindle 72, As the shaft 6 rotates, the threaded portion 71., engaging the acutator H, moves the latter in one direction. or the other, and when the actuator H reaches either limitof its movement, it engages one or the other of the spring arms f and f and opens the corresponding circuit, stopping the motor.

It is desirable to impart more or less gradual braking action to the copy supporting member as it reaches the limit of its downward travel, and toaccomplish this, there is provided a spring 7L3 arranged in the path of the actuator H, and retained on the shaft by a fixed collar h The parts are shown in Figure 5 in the position which they assume when the copy supporting member -reaches its downward limit. the'spring 71.

being compressed by the travel of the actuator H toward it, and the contact fibein'g moved away from the contact f, thereby breaking" the motor circuit.

The spring h serves to gradually and positively stop the actuator H, thereby also stopping rotation of the shaft 6 and preventing excessive turning of the drum a It will be obvious that various other mechanisms may be utilized for accomplishing automatic stoppage of the motor when the copy supporting member reaches its limiting positions, in order to prevent excessive movement and consequent breakagev or lost motion of any of the parts, and my invention is not limited to the precise form of automatic stop mechanism here disclosed.

The copysupportinp; member C is guided upon the stationaryframe D, these parts being preferably constructed as shown in Figure l, and sliding one withinthe other. At its lower endythe copy supporting member C is provided with a lug j, which is arranged to cooperate with and compress a spring 5", for cushioning the downward movement of the copy supporting member. The spring; is limited in its upward movement by a suitable head 7' on a rodj and the lug j has an opening adapted to pass over the head f, as shown in Figure 2.

At its upper end, the copy supporting member C has a laterallyextending flange or ledge K a. iinst which a meet of copy engages as it is inserted under the clamping device Z. the flange l; serving to limit movement oi and properly position the copy on the supporting member (1, as shown in l io ure 2. Z designates the usual type oi clamping rod, extending; across the supporting membenC, and pivoted for movement toward porting member the clamping rod Z, so as to permit of pOSltioning a book or sheet thereunder, l employ a lever Z shown in Figure 10, pivoted a" Z, and having a cam surface Z which enp 'es under the rod Z; The lever also inelue finger portion 7/. andby engaging the latter and swinging the lever away from the supthe clamping rod Z- is a ay from its normal position to permit of inserting copy inthe usual manner. This affords an extremely simpleand eiiicient means of controlling the likewise actuated ro'd l, by leaving one hand 01 the operator free for positioning copy under the clamping rod, which immediately resumes its clamping position upon release or" the lever l.

f In the practical operation of the apparatus it is not dilticult for an operator to attain sutllcient'skill so that bymerely striking the controlling lrey, and immediately releasing it, the motor circuit will. be closed for the proper length of time to elevate the copy supporting member throupgl'i a distance of one line. In some cases, however. it may be desirable to accomplish this automatically, and I have therefore provided a mechanism -whereby the copy supporting member n'iay be moved a definite and predetermined distance at each operation of the controlling key. This is illustrated in Figures 13. toltl inclusive, and it is to be understoodthat the mechanism of Figures 13 to 16, now about to be described, is: intended as a substitute for .each of the previously described keys (3, c, and will co-operate with the circuit in the same manner as keys 0, 0, except that the time or returning, said keys to normal position is variable and automaticallycontrolled,instead or being unde the manual control of the operator, as is the case with keys 0, c". I I

The switch controlling key is designated at M, being mounted on a sleeve m which is slidable on the vertical guide rod m in the cylinder m The sleeve m'has secured at its lower end a plate m and arranged between the lrey hi and the top of? the cylinder m? is a spring m which serves to maintain the rey in its normal or uppermost position. as shown in Figure 13.

yAlso mounted for vertical sliding movement on the guide rod in. a piston N, vwhich carries an electric contact a insulated from the body of the piston, while a is a conductor leading; {rom the conta'chw to Contact 112 on. th plate/ 1 and ins-minted "from the he of plate m The contact in is cimneiied with the field coil circuit (l as previously described, and as shown in Figure 8. and when in nor'malposition, engages the stationary contact m fixed to the undersideof the top ill) of cylinder 222?, which leads to one side P of the line. The other side P of the line leads to a contact 7 which is mounted on a supporting arm Q, the latter being pivotally mounted at r/ on a suitable bracket attached to the cylinder m The supporting arm Q is held normally in the position shown in Figure 13 by the spring in which position the contact q engages a conducting portion or contact extending through an insulating sleeve in the wall of the cylinder m and arranged to be en gaged by the contact a as the piston N travels downwardly, as shown in Figure 14.

Upon initially depressing the circuit closing key M, the plate m moves downwardly until it is engaged by a spring actuated latch R, pivoted at 1 on the support and ield normally against the stop 7 by the spring After manually depressing the key M sufiiciently to permit the latch R to engage over the top of the plate m as shown in Figure 14L, the parts are retained in this position for the time being, and as a result, the spring 1 which is located between the plate m and the piston N, is compressed and putunder tension, thereby actuating the piston N downwardly. The

piston N travels slowly toward the bottom of the cylinder m against the pressure of air within the chamber, and the speed of movement of the piston N is regulated by an adjustable air outlet valve 1' which can be opened more or less to permit the air to exhaust slower or faster from beneath the piston N. i

The adjustment of the valve 1 regulates the length of time during which the circuit is closed, as the contact n wipes past the contact As soon as the piston N moves downwardly far enough to disengage contact a from contact q ,'the piston N uncovers the upper end of an air passage 8, permitting air to escape from the under side to the upper side of piston N, and thereby reducing the pressure under the piston N and permitting the latter to travel quickly to its lowermost position under the action of the spring r Arranged between the lower side of the pistonN and the bottom oil? the cylinder is a spring 8, which is of less power'than the spring r for a purpose that will ape pear presently, and is compressed during the final downward movement of the piston N. The piston l has attached thereto one end of a cord or connection 8 the other end of which is connected to the latch R, and when the piston reaches the downward limit ol its movement, it draws the connection a as shown in Figure 15, and withdraws the latch R from engagement with the plate m releasing the latter, and permitting the key M to move upwardly to its normal position. This action relieves .ton' travels downwardly.

the compression on the spring r, whereupon the spring 8 returns piston N to its normal position, against the stop 8.

During the return movement of the piston N, it is essential that the circuit remain open, and it is for this reason that the contact Q is mounted upon the pivoted supporting arm Q, so that the arm can be moved, and the circuit broken during the upward movement of the piston N. To accomplish this, the piston N carries a projection s of any suitable insulating n'1aterial,'which engages a spring actuated pin 8 as the pis- The pin is moved outwardly against the lower end of the arm Q, swinging the arm Q to the position shown in Figure 15, and breaking the circuit by removing the contact 9 out of engagement with contact f.

In order to hold the arm inthis position during the upward travel of the piston N, there 18 provided a pivoted latch t, mounted upon the arm Q, and held in normal position by a leaf spring 6. The latch 6 passes through an opening 16 in the cylinder wall, and engages the cylinder wall, as shown in Figure 15, retaining the lower end of the arm Q in its outermost position. This relation of the parts is maintained during the upward movement of the piston N, and until the latter reaches its uppermost position, at which point the arm t which is carried by the piston, engages the latch t and moves the same against the action of the spring t, out of engagement with the wall of the cylinder, as shown in Figure 13, thereby permitting the arm Q to move back to its normal position, bringing contact 9 into engagement with contact 9 and closing the circuit at tais point, so that it is prepared for the next operation of the .key M.

The operation of the switch closing "mechanism briefly described is as follows: The valve 1* is adjusted to obtain the proper and desired length of time during which the circuit remains closed. Then, upon depressing the key M, the plate m is engaged by latch R and locked in its lower position, as in Figure 14:- This' compresses spring 0 which actuates. the piston N downwardly, compressing-the air in the lower part of the cylinder. As the piston N travels slowly in a downward direction, the contact n engages contact (1 and the circuit is closed, as shown in Figure 14-, causing the motor to operate and the copy supporting member to be moved. Further downward movement of the piston N breaks the circuit between contacts a and g stopping movement of the copyholder, and at the same time releases the air under the piston N through the passage s, after which the piston caused to move quickly to the bottom of the cylinder by the spring 1 As the piston reaches the limitot its downward movement, the projection 8* engages pin 8? and swings the arm Q to the position shown in Figure 15, thus breaking circuit between contacts 9 and also causing latch t toengage the wall of the cylinder and hold the arm Q, in this position, the piston N reaches its lowermostposition, the connection .9 is pulled downwardly, as shown in Figure 15, and the latchlt disengaged from plate ml. The key M then returns to its uppermost position, and the spring 1 is released. Thespring 8 then causes the piston N to move upwardly, and holds the piston N in its uppermost position until another operation of the key M; During the upward travel of the piston N, thecircuit remains open,-by reason of the disengagement of contact g from contact g butas the piston N reaches its normal position, the arm t strikes the latch 25' and releases the latter -from the wall of the cylinder. This permits the arm Q; to resume its normal position andthe contact 9 moves inwardly to engagecontact 9 the parts being then ready for another similar operation. e

This mechanism illustrates only one of several constructions which may be'a'dopted for the purpose of elevating the copy supporting member through a predetermined distance, by manually closing a circuit, and causing the circuit to be automatically opened after a predetermined time, which may be a second or two, or longer, as the necessities oi": the, operation may require.

While I have described the mechanism as controlled by keys orswitches conveniently arranged in reference to the typewriter key board, other methods of control may readily be adopted, for instance, the circuit closing switches may be arranged for foot control, and various modifications of the invention may be had without. departing from the underlyingscope of my improvement which involves, as its fundamental novelty, the utilizing, of some electrical means, either motor or other unit, for controlling the actuatioii of the copy supporting member of a typewriter' copyholder, as comprehended in.

the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A typewriter copyholder comprising a plane and movable vertically to expose lines ol copy successively, and an electric motor operatively connected with the copy supporting member and actuating it either upwardly or downwardly.

4:. ii typewriter copyholder comprising a member for supporting a copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successively, electrical means effecting the vertical movement of the copy supporting member upwardly or downwardly,

and an electric switch positioned in juxtarelation to a typewriter key board and operable to control said copy supporting member.

'5. A typewriter copyholder comprising a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successively, an electrical device operatively connected with said copy supporting member for actuating the latter upwardly, and an electric switch positionable in uX- ta-relation to a t oewriter ke board and o typewriter keyboard and operable to control said motor.

7. typewriter copyholder comyiirising a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successively, an electric motor operatively connected with said copy support ing member for actuating the latter either upwardly'or downwardly, and a pair oi" electric switches positionable in juvtmrelation to a typewriter keyboard and operable to drive said motor in either direction and thereby to elevate or lower the copy supporting member.

8. A typewriter copyholder com 'irising a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines ofcopy successively, an electric motor operatively connected wi h said copy supporting member for actuating the latter either upwardly or downwardly, a pair of electric switches positionable in juXta-relation to a typewriter keyboard and operable to drive said motor in either direction and thereby to elevate or lower thecopy supporting member, and switch carrier adapted to be detachably supported on the typewriter frame adjacent to the keyboard.

9. A typewriter copyholder comprising a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successively, a stationary frame, a drum near the bottom of said frame, a guide pulley near the top of the frame, a flexible ll. Br typewriter copyl'iolder comprising a vertn lly movable copy supporting member,

an electric motor operating said supporti r ,niember in either direction, an electric cilcuit for the motor, a pair i iormally closed switches, and a movable switch actuator controller by the travel of the copy supporting member and acting to automatically open one of said switches and thereby stop the motor as the copy supporting member reaches the limit of its travel in either direction.

1 In a typewriter copyholder, the combination with a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successively, of an electric motor actuating the latter in opposite directions, a pair of circuits arranged in parallel between the motor armature and the line, a manually operated switch in each of said parallel circuits, a field winding extending from one of said parallel circuits to the other and between P said manually operated switches which may be alternately operated to rotate the motor in either direction and thereby raise or lower the copy supporting member, an automatic switch in each of said parallel circuits, and a movable switch actuator governed by the travel of the copy supporting member and operating to open one of said automatic switches and thereby stop the motor as the copy supporting member reaches the limit of its travel.

13. A typewriter copyholder coi'nprising a copy supporting member, electrical means for controlling the copy supporting memher, a circuit, and a switch which is closed by a manual operation and is automatically held closed for a predetermined period of time and then automatically opened.

. distance.

15. A typewriter copyholder comprising a copy supporting member, an electric motor operatively connected with the copy supporting member, a motor circuit, a switch governing the motor circuit and manually operable to close the same, and automatic means acting to hold the switch closed a predetermined length of time and then open it.

it. A typewriter copyholder comprising a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successively, electrical means effecting movement of the copy supporting member, and a manually operable device controlling the electrical means and acting to cause a predetermined movement of the copy supporting member.

1?. A typewriter copyholder comprising a member for supporting copy in a "ertical p ane and movable vertically to expose lines copy successively, a shaft operatively conted to said vertically movable member, a worm gear on said shaft, a reversible electric motor, and a worm on the motor shaft having engagement with said worm gear.

18. A typewriter copyholder comprising a member for supporting copy in a vertical plane and movable vertically to expose lines of copy successh ely, a shaft, a flexible member operatively connecting the shaft with said. movable member, whereby rotation of the shaft causes a corresponding vertical travel of the movable member in one direction or the other, a reversible electric motor, a worm gear on said shaft, and a worm on the motor shaft engaging said worm gear.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. it

ANDREXV S. hlACDOlVELL. 

